My first impressions are definitely not what I expected it to be like! Today I began my week’s placement at Buckingham and Winslow Advertiser, based in Buckingham, but also writes for the Bicester Review, and a Brackley and Towcester local paper.

A newsroom is so much quieter than I expected it to be, for a start, considering it produces three newspapers a week! Apart from the almost constant tapping, it’s actually silent. Well, Gavin’s on the phone, so almost. Occasionally someone will voice aloud a query, usually to do with a story or lead of course.

I began the day by reading the latest edition of the Buckingham and Winslow Advertiser, and due to some technology issues, read it again… and again… Still, it gave me a better feel for the style of writing, and the layout of the newspaper, because I hadn’t read it in a while.

Finally the system decided to log me on, and I wrote a brief statement about myself for Kerry, which didn’t take long. I found it surprisingly easy, probably as a result of all the personal statement writing I’ve been doing recently…

I was then given a short press release for a story on Buckingham Panto’s launch of a writing competition, and during the afternoon I completed a number of short articles based on these.

The writing came fairly easy, I hope it’s alright. It’s strange that I feel reasonably comfortable in this new, unfamiliar, office environment. I support I only have Pret to compare it to, but it’s completely different in almost every way. Except the people are equally nice!

I could quite easily do this for a living. I’m past the daunting stage now, although the interview i had to do earlier wasn’t very fun, she didn’t want to really… Oh well. I’m aiming national, big dreams ahead!

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Digital journalist for The Times - Red Box. natasha[dot]clark[at]thetimes[dot]co[dot]uk
Previously @TwitterUK, @politicshome and @thesundaytimes. Previously freelance for the Guardian and the Independent. I also work for What's New in Publishing and co-editing Wannabe Hacks.
Previously I was Editor @ The Boar, the University of Warwick students' newspaper. I am a graduate of History and Politics from Warwick, and of Newspaper Journalism at City University.
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